NVIDIA and ATI HDCP Compatible Graphics Cards Roundup
by Josh Venning on November 16, 2006 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
The Cards
For this HDCP roundup, we have a large number of cards, both from ATI and NVIDIA. NVIDIA is a little more well-represented here, but the final cards we ended up with are the result of the companies providing us with cards they had available for this review. We invited as many companies as we could to participate in this review, and we were pleased with the turnout of cards we received. As we mentioned, we have a total of 20 cards from the following companies: Gigabyte ASUS, MSI, Sparkle, XFX, EVGA, BFG, PNY, Leadtek, Powercolor, and finally Sapphire. Below is a rundown of the cards, prices and their clock speeds.
As is often times the case, several of these cards weren't available for purchase at the time of publication, so in place of their price, we put a general dollar amount that you would expect to see these cards if and when they become available. Also the NVIDIA 8800 GTX and GTS, as well as the ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256 and X1650 XT are included for reference, so the listed prices are what you should see on the different versions of these cards currently on sale (in the X1650 XT's case, when it becomes available). Cards that are not currently available are marked with an asterisk.
Now let's take a look at the cards we have, starting with those from Gigabyte.
For this HDCP roundup, we have a large number of cards, both from ATI and NVIDIA. NVIDIA is a little more well-represented here, but the final cards we ended up with are the result of the companies providing us with cards they had available for this review. We invited as many companies as we could to participate in this review, and we were pleased with the turnout of cards we received. As we mentioned, we have a total of 20 cards from the following companies: Gigabyte ASUS, MSI, Sparkle, XFX, EVGA, BFG, PNY, Leadtek, Powercolor, and finally Sapphire. Below is a rundown of the cards, prices and their clock speeds.
| Graphics Card Prices | |
| NVIDIA Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GS HDMI 400/400 | $150* |
| NVIDIA ASUS GeForce EN7600 GT HDMI 560/700 | $200 |
| NVIDIA MSI GeForce NX7600 GT Diamond Plus 560/700 | $195 |
| NVIDIA MSI GeForce NX7600 GT 580/750 | $160 |
| NVIDIA Albatron GeForce 7900 GS 450/660 | $160 |
| NVIDIA EVGA e-GeForce 7900 GS KO 500/690 | $180 |
| NVIDIA Leadtek WinFast PX7900GS TDH Extreme 520/700 | $295 |
| NVIDIA MSI GeForce 7900 GS 450/660 | $220* |
| NVIDIA MSI GeForce NX7900 GT 500/765 | $180 |
| NVIDIA EVGA e-GeForce 7950 GT KO 560/725 | $245 |
| NVIDIA Gigabyte GeForce NX7950 GT 550/700 | $250-300* |
| NVIDIA PNY GeForce 7950 GT 550/700 | $289 |
| NVIDIA XFX GeForce 7950 GT HDCP 570/730 | $295 |
| NVIDIA Sparkle Calibre 7950 GT 575/720 | $300-400* |
| NVIDIA BFG GeForce 7950 GX2 500/600 | $525 |
| NVIDIA EVGA e-GeForce 7950 GX2 500/600 | $511 |
| NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX (reference) | $650 |
| NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS (reference) | $480 |
| ATI Powercolor Radeon X1600 PRO HDMI 600/500 | $115 |
| ATI Sapphire Radeon X1950 XTX 650/1000 | $400 |
| ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256 (reference) 625/725 | $280* |
| ATI Radeon X1650XT 575/675 | $150-250* |
As is often times the case, several of these cards weren't available for purchase at the time of publication, so in place of their price, we put a general dollar amount that you would expect to see these cards if and when they become available. Also the NVIDIA 8800 GTX and GTS, as well as the ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256 and X1650 XT are included for reference, so the listed prices are what you should see on the different versions of these cards currently on sale (in the X1650 XT's case, when it becomes available). Cards that are not currently available are marked with an asterisk.
Now let's take a look at the cards we have, starting with those from Gigabyte.
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DerekWilson - Thursday, November 16, 2006 - link
To be honest, this article was a very long time in production ... we got a hold of the drive almost two months ago iirc. It just took a whole lot of time and energy to get the tests done and the article written. We did go back and add the 8800 and 256mb 1900xt, but the x1950pro seemed to slip through the cracks.Sorry about that. We didn't exclude it on purpose, and we will try to include it in any future articles we write on HDCP protected content and high definition movies.
photoguy99 - Thursday, November 16, 2006 - link
If the article was done a while ago, does that mean it's now possible to playback h.264/vc1 Blu-Ray on a PC?It would be good to know what the missing link is to make sure we get it if we want to get playback on our own systems.
DerekWilson - Friday, November 17, 2006 - link
All BD movies are currently MPEG-2 -- and probably will be for a while.HD-DVD movies use VC1.
peternelson - Friday, November 17, 2006 - link
Wrong, the initial BR moves were mpeg-2 encoded content.
There now exist BR discs with content in the other two main formats.
Also discs with dual layers while original releases were single layer.
The wikipedia page for bluray contains titles, launch dates of the non-mpeg-2 discs.
DerekWilson - Saturday, November 18, 2006 - link
I stand corrected. Thanks for the info.balazs203 - Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - link
Thanks for the great review.At this link in the review of the new Panasonic BR player they mention a few non-MPEG2 BD titles they like quality wise:
http://www.ultimateavmag.com/hddiscplayers/1106pan...">http://www.ultimateavmag.com/hddiscplayers/1106pan...
I would be very much interested in an extension of your review with non-MPEG2 titles as obviously I would like to buy a computer which can play back all these titles and MPEG2 is the easisest type. Info about the other types is much more important for me when I consider what parts I want to buy.
JarredWalton - Thursday, November 16, 2006 - link
The article wasn't *done* a while ago - it was *started* two months ago. It took that long to get to this point, which says something about the state of the technology.lujack26 - Monday, October 31, 2011 - link
I was looking around the web for HDMI video cards after I read this article and came across this website E-bargainz.com. They seem to have great prices, a large selection, and reasonable shipping. Here is the direct link to their selection of HDMI video cards http://www.e-bargainz.com/index.php/cPath/143. I also found a coupon code "Thank You" for $5 off your first purchase. I'm going to try them out. Anything to keep from putting another dollar in Jeff Bezos pockets.